Preston have agreed a deal with Manchester United
for the loan signing of defender Ritchie de
Laet.
The 21-year-old Belgium international joins fellow United
youngsters Joshua King and Matthew James at the Lancashire
club.
Boss Darren Ferguson moved swiftly to secure his services after
Sean St Ledger and Callum Davidson both picked up knocks against
Hull last Friday.
The length of the deal is yet to be agreed between the clubs but
the versatile defender will be included in the squad for Saturday's
trip to QPR.
It is hoped that he will be the first of three signings at
Deepdale this week, as Ferguson looks to inject some depth and
quality into a squad that is currently bottom of the
Championship.
Stoke's Danny Pugh and Michael Tonge are also on his wish list
and North End chairman Maurice Lindsay hopes to secure their
services too.
He told the Lancashire Evening Post: "We've agreed a
deal with United for Ritchie de Laet - it's been sanctioned by
them. We've just got to finalise the length of the loan then
everything will be done.
"He's joining us for training today and will be available for
the QPR game.
"Ritchie is a versatile defender, he spent a month on loan with
Sheffield United recently so he knows the Championship.
"We're still hopeful that we can reach an agreement with Stoke
for one if not two of their lads, Michael Tonge and Danny Pugh.
"That would give us new faces and freshen up the squad for
Saturday."
De Laet was signed in January 2009 by Manchester United from
Stoke and has made three Premier League starts for Sir Alex
Ferguson's team.
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